Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan advance plans for strategic trade corridor

KABUL (Ariana News): Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing regional connectivity through the development of a trilateral transport corridor aimed at boosting cargo flow and trade between Central and South Asia.

Transport authorities from the three countries convened for a virtual meeting to review and finalize a draft Joint Action Plan focused on advancing the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan corridor.

The meeting was convened under Uzbekistan’s Presidential Decree which calls for the continued development of the nation’s transport and logistics systems.

According to a statement reported by Trend, the discussions centered on identifying practical measures to improve cargo movement, remove trade barriers, and streamline cross-border logistics.

The three parties agreed to finalize the plan and begin the required domestic procedures to prepare it for signing.

The initiative is seen as a crucial move toward strengthening trade and economic cooperation across the region. It complements earlier efforts to establish a multi-nation railway project, the Termez–Mazar-i-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar route, which was first formalized in a trilateral agreement in February 2021.

With an estimated cost of $5 billion, the railway corridor is expected to have a transit capacity of up to 20 million tons of cargo annually. Once completed, it will provide a vital overland trade route linking Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and the broader Southeast Asian region.

Officials from all three countries view the corridor as a game-changing infrastructure project that will not only increase regional trade but also improve geopolitical connectivity and economic integration in a historically underlinked region.